


Someone Else's Virtue

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-03-18
Updated: 2003-03-18
Packaged: 2019-05-30 09:12:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15093677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: Loyalty becomes someone else's virtue when circumstances change.





	Someone Else's Virtue

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**Someone Else's Virtue**

**by:** Kansas J. Miller

**Character(s):** CJ, John Hoynes  
**Pairing(s):** CJ / John Hoynes  
**Category(s):** Romance  
**Rating:** MATURE  
**Summary:** Loyalty becomes someone else's virtue when circumstances change  
**Author's Note:** This story follows up "Everything". 

CJ leapt out of her chair and bolted out of the office. "Do I hear crying babies?" She skipped gleefully up to Toby as he came down the hallway, a baby carrier in each arm. 

Toby grinned. "They're not crying, they're happy to see you," he joked, walking into CJ's office. After he set the two seats carefully down on the couch, CJ kneeled and began to immediately fawn over the babies. They instantly began to giggle and coo. 

"CJ, stop it, they get enough of that from their mother," Toby said, hoping for gruffness but instead his tone came out full of pride for his children. 

CJ let Jessica tug on her finger while she tickled James' tummy with her other hand. "How's Andi?" she asked, looking up briefly. 

"Great. Busy. Incredibly stressed. She's thinking about not running again next November." 

CJ stood up and put her hands on her hips. "Really? Well, she's got almost a year to decide." 

Toby shrugged. "I'm staying out of it. Listen, would you mind watching them ten minutes while I go see Leo? The nanny was sick and I don't trust Sam." 

CJ laughed and shooed him out the door. "Go, I'll be here." 

Toby gave her a grateful look as he headed out of her office and down the hallway. CJ sighed happily and sat down between the two babies. Jessica was occupied with tugging on her own little feet, and so CJ carefully hoisted James out of the carrier. 

Holding him on her lap and speaking softly to the six-month old, CJ thought about how much these children had changed Toby Ziegler. He was the same hard-nosed political mind, but everyone's personal relationship with Toby had improved ten-fold since the babies were born. The children had softened him, made him happier and easier to be around. 

CJ had certainly appreciated the way he'd eased up on her and John; Toby had stopped giving her such a hard time about the relationship, and while he never said much about the situation, they'd gone back to being good friends. Working with a still-insensitive Chief-of-Staff and President was suddenly easy again when CJ had another friend in her corner. "Is Toby with Leo?" Sam popped his head into the office and when he saw the babies, he eagerly came closer. "Hi, you guys!" 

CJ smiled. "Yep, he's with Leo. I'm babysitting because Toby doesn't trust you." 

"Surprising that he didn't trust Josh, either." They laughed and Sam touched the small boy's forehead. "You want to have a baby someday, CJ?" 

CJ smirked at Sam. "Gee, Sam, that's quite an offer but I'm a little bit involved with someone else right now." 

Sam snorted and cocked his head. "You know what I meant. You and the Vice President." 

CJ lowered her eyes and rubbed the baby's small back. "Well, considering that we're not even engaged to be married yet." 

Sam sat and picked Jessica up out of her carrier. "You will be though, right? Everyone says it'll happen." 

CJ smirked. They'd been together almost eleven months as the Christmas season dawned. "We haven't talked about it." 

"Really?" Sam asked, surprised. CJ and the Vice President seemed inseparable, impossibly in love. 

CJ sighed. "Let's move off of this," she smiled wanly. Everyone was asking when she and John would get married, but it simply wasn't something she felt comfortable pushing him for. It was, however, something that CJ wanted more and more each day. 

"Okay." Sam gave her a friendly smile as he set Jessica back into the little seat. "I'm going to the thing." 

"Education meeting?" 

"Yeah, I'll send you a briefing memo," Sam smiled. "See you 'round, CJ." 

~*~ 

"Sir, it's just a quick photo-op. They'll be here in a half-hour and it'll take five minutes," Bruce said, exasperated as he followed the Vice President around the office. It was early evening and the sun was beginning to set. 

"I want to get the hell out of here," John growled, throwing a few other items into his briefcase. "I'm supposed to see Claudia." 

"Yes, Sir, I know, but this has been on the schedule." 

"And I'm not having the best day, so maybe you can get it *off* of the schedule?" John asked pointedly, indicating that he was absolutely not doing the photo-op. 

Bruce closed his eyes and sighed. "Janeane, reschedule for tomorrow," he called. 

"Yes, Sir," she returned, from outside of the main office. 

"Thank you," the Vice President frowned, slipping into his jacket. "That wasn't so hard, now was it?" 

"You having trouble with CJ?" Bruce guessed, erasing the formalities of their jobs. They had been roommates in college and Bruce had been the chief-of-staff for every campaign John Hoynes had run; he could read with ease the Vice President's mood. 

John looked up suddenly. "No," he softened his tone, shaking his head. "Not trouble, exactly. But I'm trying to figure some things out, that's all." 

Bruce cocked his head and grinned. "It's about damn time that you got down on one knee." 

"I don't want her to feel like this is a political maneuver," John said, twisting his expression. 

"John," Bruce smirked with a grin. "She probably just wants a ring." 

The Vice President chuckled. "I'll see you later, Bruce. Have a good night." 

~*~ 

CJ was already in the Observatory kitchen when John came in. Flitting around the cook, she was asking question after question and observing the way Milo prepare the meal. John watched affectionately from the doorway as the cook handed CJ the knife; she began to slice the ham as a professional would. 

"And you told me you couldn't cook," John finally commented, stepping into the room. 

CJ looked up with a bright smile on her face and continued to slice the meat. "Ask Milo, I certainly didn't cook any of this." 

"Come into the sitting room with me a minute," John beckoned, cocking his head. 

CJ handed the knife back to Milo and followed John into the white living room. It glowed with the just-assembled Christmas tree, a gorgeous twelve-footer decked out tastefully in white decorations. 

"Sit," he smiled, tugging softly on her hand as he guided her to the sofa. 

CJ settled and crossed her legs, turning towards John. "What's up?" 

John cleared his throat nervously. "So, today, I was talking to Bruce." 

"Yeah?" CJ roved her eyes over his expression, waiting. 

"I was in kind of a lousy mood today and he thought you and I had been fighting." 

"We hadn't been," CJ reminded him, smiling as he squeezed her hand. 

"Have we ever had a fight?" John suddenly asked, musing. "I can't even think of one." "I was pretty pissed at you this summer when you pushed me into the pool," CJ reminded him, her eyes sparkling. 

John chuckled, thinking back to their vacation in Crawford, Texas. "You were fully clothed, that was my finest move," he nodded self- indulgently. 

CJ rolled her eyes. "And not the first time I've fallen into a pool." 

John smiled and looked down at CJ's hand in his. He had the perfect ring to fit her finger and it was right there in his pocket. All he had to do was take it and say something simple like, Claudia, I love you, please be my wife. But there was something ever so slight wracking John's nerves, making him apprehensive. Was this the right time? Maybe he should wait. They'd be interrupted when dinner was ready, and he could probably do this better. 

"John? Did you want to talk to me about something?" CJ asked, her tone neutral. "You seemed like you had something on your mind." 

John shook his head, briefly closing his eyes. Damn-it, he inwardly moaned, not again. Proposing to her was fast becoming a daunting task. "Nah," he refuted with a smile. Tipping her chin towards his, he pressed his lips reverently against hers. "I love you." 

CJ smiled and pulled herself closer to him, wrapping her arms around John's neck. "I love you, too. And I think our supper is just about done," she gestured to the kitchen. 

As they separated, CJ tried to conceal her disappointment. She'd been so sure that John was going to propose to her. There had been a few times lately when it had looked that way, but nothing ever came of his hesitant attempts to sit her down alone. Was John nervous? Unsure of himself? Maybe, CJ thought unhappily, it was her who he was unsure of. 

~*~ 

"This blows." 

"Well put." 

"Seriously, this blows. This could not blow any more than it blows right now!" 

"Only if you keep saying 'blow'." CJ said wryly, not looking up from her laptop. 

Donna was standing before the desk, arms crossed over her chest. She leaned anxiously forward and hissed, "He's gone completely lunatic, CJ, he's finally lost his marbles." 

"It's Josh, that was bound to happen eventually," CJ cracked, finally taking off her glasses. "Donna, sit down. What's going on?" 

Donna sighed and sat in the guest chair. "I told him I wanted to leave early because I had a date. He went off and warned me not to turn into *you*. Then he found two tons of irrelevant and random work for me to do," Donna muttered, her eyes giving away her low mood. 

CJ shook her head and looked at the clock. "I guess you missed the date?" 

"Oh, yeah. There was definitely no date." 

"Josh wants you, Donna, that's all," CJ shrugged with a laugh, settling back in her chair. In the past six months, she'd grown immune to Josh's insensitivity. "And turning into me wouldn't be so bad, hmm?" 

Donna nodded reverently. "That's what I said." 

"It's not that late, come over to my place. We'll have a bottle of wine or something," CJ suggested. "I have a ton of untouched Godiva in my apartment." 

Donna nodded with a growing grin. "Chocolate can fix the world." 

~*~ 

John Hoynes was a man with a plan. It was Friday night and he knew that CJ was returning to her apartment after a working dinner. So with the spare key, the one he rarely used, he had gone to her apartment and taken over. 

He was going to sweep her off of her feet with something romantic; it was perfect, there'd be no interruptions and he could finally ask CJ to be his wife. Ordering the Secret Service agents to park around the block - and begging the ones in the hallway to be discreet - John went about readying his surprise. 

He tidied up CJ's apartment, which he knew she'd like. John asked an agent to get him a bottle of champagne for CJ, and now it sat in the kitchen on ice, two flutes waiting nearby. For himself, John had brought Ginger Ale, now chilling in the fridge. CJ's favorite CD was playing softly in the living room, and four dozen tightly coiled roses waited by the champagne. And of course, there was the ring. That would be in his pocket until later, but as he waited on the sofa, John took out the small black box. 

It was beautiful, a knockout of a ring. The round diamond wasn't obscenely large, but it shone brightly and reflected the light. Set in a gold band with two smaller diamonds flanking the larger one, John hoped that CJ would like it. He'd take it back in a heartbeat, however, if she wanted something else. 

John jumped with nervous excitement as he heard the key in the lock. He was actually going to do this; he was actually going to propose marriage to the woman he loved. 

~*~ 

"Oops, wrong key," CJ laughed, explaining. "I just got my locks changed and I keep getting confused." 

Donna stood behind CJ holding their DVD rental. She looked down the hallway and back, her eyes quickly returning to their original spot. "CJ.There's a couple of men in black over there who look suspiciously like Secret Service Agents." 

CJ stopped, the key turned mid-way in the lock. She looked. "I didn't see the cars outside, did you? He can't be here." she mused, squinting her eyes. There they were, two agents inconspicuously guarding the end of the hallway. 

Pushing the door open cautiously, CJ caught the strains of music. Looking back worriedly, apologetically at Donna, they entered the apartment. 

"Claudia," John smiled, standing up without noticing Donna. "I thought you'd never get home." 

"What are you doing here?" she wondered, hesitantly accepting his warm kiss. She looked into the kitchen and saw the flowers and the bottle of champagne. "John.?" 

"Oh my God," Donna murmured, her cheeks flush with embarrassment. "I am so leaving." 

"Wait a second," CJ chuckled, grabbing Donna's wrist. She turned back to the Vice President. "What are you doing?" she whispered conspiratorially, smiling. 

John's expression fell when he saw Donna. "Hello, Donna," he greeted her with a friendly, albeit forced, smile. "I thought you didn't have plans," he whispered to CJ. 

"Last minute, actually.Donna and I are doing the female bonding thing," CJ explained, grinning back at Donna, then to John. "We're going to watch Moonstruck." 

Donna was awed; she couldn't believe CJ wanted her to stay when John clearly had something planned. Something big, from the looks of it. 

John took his hand and quickly smoothed down CJ's hair, his heart sinking. At the rate this was going, he was never going to propose. "I should have called you first, Sweetheart. I'm so sorry. I can see you another time." 

The roses, the champagne.something wonderfully fishy was going on. But Donna needed her, too. CJ frowned as he moved past her. "John, you're not mad, are you?" 

John regarded Donna again and moved back to CJ. Pressing a chaste kiss against her lips, he put on a smile. "Not at all. Have fun ladies," he nodded his head formally at the two women. 

With that, John slipped out the door, closing it with a click behind him. 

Donna's jaw dropped. "Are you crazy!?" 

CJ shrugged with a half-grin. "I don't care if he's the Vice President of the United States. The Sisterhood comes first. Especially," she added with a sly grin, "if Josh Lyman was involved." 

Donna felt warm gratitude rising in her heart. She couldn't help but slinging her arms around CJ. "You are the best friend in the whole world." 

CJ smiled and returned the hug. They stepped apart and CJ walked into the kitchen, eyes on the counter. "What do you think he was up to?" she asked. 

Donna followed, wide-eyed. "I have no idea.something amazing. I want a man," she whined. "A real one." 

CJ smiled; she just *knew* he'd been planning to pop the question. Maybe she should have let Donna go home. But no.CJ knew that if John wanted to ask her, he would eventually get around to it again. Pushing the thought out of her mind, CJ lifted the champagne out of the ice and grinned. "Forget the wine, we're having this." 

~*~ 

John got back into the car with a resigned sigh. 

"She didn't say no, did she, Sir?" Agent Fields asked with a sly grin, looking up at the Vice President via the rear view mirror. 

"I didn't even get that far. Something about female bonding with her best friend," John smirked, eliciting a chuckle out of the Agent. 

"My wife does that," Fields responded. "I'll never understand women. Well, another time then, Sir." 

"It'll have to be," John smiled wanly, a new plan already forming in his head. "Let's go home, Tony." 

~*~ 

"CJ, wrangle the press in on in this, make sure they really understand the objectives of the budget rewrite," Leo directed, walking in circles around his office. 

CJ scribbled a note on her pad and continued to concentrate on the meeting. Leo was on cruise control today, one thing after another, all in short order. 

"Sam or Toby - one of you - the President needs some brief remarks in his pocket for when we visit the children's hospital; he'll get asked about the health care package." 

"Josh," Leo smirked. "I need you to get with the Vice President at the Kennedy Center tomorrow night - find out where he's going with his internet for the poor initiative." 

Leo was about to move on when Josh interrupted. "Leo, I swear to God, I'm not sitting through the Nutcracker just to get a few words with Hoynes. I can talk to Bruce, something, anything else," he pleaded, grumbling. 

Leo looked up. "Your bad attitude towards Hoynes is becoming something of a well known fact." Leo cocked his head. "So go, play nice." 

"Come on, Leo, send CJ.they obviously have no problems getting along." Josh smirked, a heavy tone in his voice. 

CJ turned, pointedly looking at Josh. "Your bad attitude towards me is starting to become a well known fact, too. So maybe you should play nice twice." 

Sam chuckled and Leo tried to hide his smile. Toby looked amused as Josh stared stunned at CJ. "Well, I guess this meeting's over," Josh muttered, moving to leave. 

CJ smirked, glancing at her colleagues with a wry grin. "Damn right." ~*~ 

After that, Josh refrained from commenting on CJ's relationship with the Vice President. In fact, as the month sped by, CJ began to believe that everyone was finally treating her like they used to. CJ allowed herself to think that she'd truly earned back the respect of her colleagues; it had certainly taken long enough. 

Christmas came and went without much fanfare. CJ took a quiet three days with John, tucked away in the Observatory. Most of that time was used for making love; they spent the entire day after Christmas in bed, passing the day with slow and leisurely pleasure. CJ had truly expected John to present her with a ring over the holiday; after all of the times she'd sensed that he would propose, CJ figured that their downtime over Christmas was the perfect opportunity. But as close as they'd stayed over the holiday week, John still hadn't breathed a word about marriage. CJ was starting to get discouraged, at one point considering asking *him* to marry *her*. Hell, this was the 21st century. A woman could wear the pants and pop the question, too. 

John knew that CJ was expecting something at this point; the aborted foray in her apartment only weeks earlier had all but given things away. John knew she was on edge, waiting for a proposal over Christmas, but a better plan had come to the Vice President. 

~*~ 

Dressed casually in a sweater and black pants, CJ wrapped her arms around John's back, leaning her cheek against his chest. "This party is a lot better this year," she teased, swaying slowly with the music. 

They were barely moving as they danced, tucked away quietly in a corner of the West Wing lobby. As they party jived on around them, John kissed the top of CJ's head and smiled. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Thanks to you, New Year's Eve doesn't seem quite so bad this year." 

"TWO MINUTES!" Someone yelled, and idiotic, already-drunken cheers went up in the lobby. 

The party was the same as last year's gathering; all of the White House staffers, from the President on down, were invited, and for one night they took over the West Wing. Food and the main gathering took place in the lobby, but over the evening, there were people in and out of the Communications bullpen and the Roosevelt Room; it looked like Election night - the West Wing was packed, save for Josh's bullpen. 

CJ and John moved over to the middle of the floor to get a view of the large screen. The ball in New York was on the way down, and Dick Clark's voice cried excitedly on about 2004. CJ caught Toby's eye and they exchanged happy smiles; he still had Andi by his side. Sam and Donna were counting down loudly, and everyone else but John was simply a blur. CJ smiled; this year she wouldn't have to be depressed over being alone. 

"5.4.3.2.ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" 

The gathering in the lobby burst with cheering, confetti and balloons. How they'd managed to rig everything to the lobby ceiling, CJ didn't know, but she didn't have much time to think on it. John pulled her close, his mouth was firmly sealed against hers, and wrapping her arms around his back, she kissed him with enthusiasm. 

When they finally broke a part, a few good-natured hoots and cat-calls rose from nearby staffers, but the attention was short-lived. The party was just getting started in the West Wing lobby and everyone was quite intent on getting good and drunk. John took CJ's hand and discreetly led her through the bullpen doors. 

The Christmas strands had been taken down that day and the only light in the hallway was provided by the lamp on CJ's desk and the glowing party outside. As they stopped outside of Josh's office, CJ slowly smiled. 

"This is extremely familiar," she said coyly, clutching to John's hand in the dark. 

"That's what I was thinking," he smiled, slipping his arm around her waist, moving them until he could see her face in the light from the lobby. "I wanted to get you alone." 

CJ smiled, resting her cheek against John's. "You've got me." 

John breathed deeply and knew that this time, he was really doing this. "Claudia, last year, it was just by chance that I walked in here and found you. I dropped you off at home and thought nothing of it except to say that you were more attractive than I'd remembered." 

"John?" CJ chuckled softly. 

"Shh," he warned, gently pressing a finger against her lips. "Let me do this right, Sweetheart." John cleared his throat, new nerves throwing his usually strong confidence. Quickly pulling himself together, he continued. 

"Over the past year, I found in you what I'd given up on. I've never felt this way about anyone before in my entire life. Being with you feels right - I love you and I want to really make you mine," he smiled tenderly, noticing CJ's rapidly-misting eyes. 

"Now, you should know that I've been trying to do this for a while," he chuckled, taking the black box out of his pocket. "But some things - mostly my own nerves - have gotten in the way." 

CJ gasped as John kneeled down on one knee; she certainly hadn't expected him to do that, much less on the bullpen floor. But this was where he'd found her exactly one year earlier, and CJ allowed John to take her hand. 

"Claudia, I'm in desperately in love with you and I'd like to be your husband," he took a breath and looked up at her. 

CJ smiled brightly, on the verge of tears as she sunk down to her knees before him. The ring he had was gorgeous and the way John had worded his proposal took CJ's breath away. 

Swiping at her eyes, CJ braced her hands on John's broad shoulders. "You'd like to be my husband," she repeated with a happy murmur, slowly easing her arms around him. John slipped his own arms around her waist and held her tight, waiting for an answer. 

"I would," he smiled against her ear. "If you need to think about it." he added for good measure, knowing it would elicit an immediate reaction. 

"No!" CJ cried with a tearful laugh. "I love you so much that I'm about to lose my mind, John," she admitted, burying her head against his neck before pulling back to see his eyes. "I've wanted this for so long." 

John slid his hand behind her neck and brought her lips to his. "I have, too. But I wanted to be sure that we were committed, that we were ready to really do this. I know we are, and I thought tonight would be perfect, especially after all of my bungled attempts." 

CJ laughed, her eyes still watering. "That night when I brought Donna to my place - you were going to do it then, weren't you?" 

John only laughed in response, squeezing her more tightly against his chest. "I think this went a lot more smoothly." 

"I love you," CJ purred, pulling them up off of the bullpen floor. "I love you," she repeated, enunciating each word. They kissed softly and CJ pulled back. "Can I have my ring now?" 

John laughed throatily, sending a flutter through CJ. Still glued to his side, she grinned with all of her teeth as John took her left hand, easily sliding on the ring. "If you don't like this ring, we can go together to pick something out." 

CJ held her fingers up to the light as the party out in the lobby went on, oblivious to the couple's joy. "It's perfect, John," CJ decided. "Everything's perfect." 

~*~ 

"Congratulations," Leo offered, formally kissing CJ's cheek. Sam embraced CJ heartily and Toby smiled, having already heard the news of CJ's engagement to John Hoynes. Josh hung back in the corner of Leo's office, only nodding in response. It was January 3rd, and announcing her engagement to the staff had been priority number one. 

"When did he propose?" Sam asked with interest as all of the staffers took seats. 

"New Year's, right after midnight," CJ informed him, a glimmer in her eye. 

"Before we know it, CJ will also have a couple of babies and perpetual spit up stains on her clothes," Toby joked, grinning at the thought. 

CJ only chuckled and quickly looked back at Toby. "We haven't talked about children." 

"Have you decided when you'll be resigning?" Leo asked casually, shifting through some materials on his desk. Activity in the room ceased noticeably. 

"I'm sorry?" CJ asked, cocking her head. 

Leo looked up. "You're going to be planning a wedding, I presume, and then taking on initiatives of your own. There hasn't been a Second Lady yet who's kept her day job." 

CJ was insulted. "Being the President's Press Secretary isn't a day job, Leo, it's my life. I wouldn't give that up for any man." 

Leo decided to drop it, but judging by the tense faces of the men in the room, he knew that they'd be revisiting the issue. There was no way CJ would be able to keep up the duties that her job required *and* effectively be John Hoynes' wife. Even if they were in love, Hoynes still wanted to be President. Leo often wondered about the timing, the convenient way their relationship had played out. 

"All right, well, let's talk about how you'll be announcing this to the press," Leo continued, having hesitated only for a fraction of a second. 

CJ sighed, sensing the old divisions reforming. They couldn't be happy for her, not when politics came into play. 

~*~ 

The Vice President looked up at the people gathered around the table: Bruce and Janeane, his Press Secretary Bill, Communications aide Jeff and a brand new media consultant who'd been hired to deal specifically with wedding and CJ-related news. 

"Listen, Tracey," John began, only to be cut off by the young blonde woman. 

"I'm sorry, Sir, it's Stacy," she smiled sweetly, almost annoyingly so. 

John cleared his throat. "Apologies. Stacy," he tried again. "I can do any publicity that Bruce and Bill, and Jeff sign off on, but I can't speak for my fiancée. Of course you'll want to meet with her, but she's incredibly private when it comes to these things. I don't know how much of that she'll want to do." 

Bruce broke in. "Sir, the first thing we have to do is announce to the press. I want to have Bill make a statement, take some questions. Then there will have to be interviews and of course, official photos. I want to keep *you* out of the whirlwind, but CJ has to do it all - she's popular to begin with, which you know is a great help, even this early in the game." 

John twisted his mouth. Bruce was hell bent on working this to his advantage. "I can't tell Claudia what to do; it's her call." He looked to Stacy. "What are we talking about here?" 

"Well, as soon as you make an announcement, I can guarantee you that all the fashion magazines will want to do spreads. We'll stick with the more tasteful publications. Maybe you'll consider a joint interview, 20/20, Dateline, something like that. And CJ might want to hold a press conference specifically related to this." 

John nodded. CJ was going to kill him. "Okay, this has been great," John said, a slight wry tone coming through. "Bill, do your statement. We'll go from there. It's time I got back to work." 

Smiling to himself as he went back into his office, John felt happiness wash over him; it was the same joy that he'd had for three days straight - CJ was going to be his wife! The Vice President only hoped that it wouldn't completely distract them from doing their jobs. 

~*~ 

"Hey, Man of the Year," CJ teased as she came into the Observatory sitting room 

"Oh, would you get over that already?" John groaned with a grin, holding up a finger. "Bartlet's still pissed as hell." 

"No kidding," CJ laughed, curling up next to John on the sofa. "But I like that I'll be married to someone who was once Man of the Year." 

John rolled his eyes and smiled, wrapping his arms around CJ's waist. CJ had been teasing him the three weeks since Time Magazine had named the Vice President their Man of the Year. It was much to Bartlet's chagrin, but with the President's MS episode, the crime bill and not to mention the added publicity of his relationship, John Hoynes had definitely influenced the news this year. 

CJ sighed tiredly as college football played on the television. The news of their engagement was a week old and the press was absolutely lapping up the story. CJ had spent practically no time in the office during the week, nor had Carol as the two of them ran around like mad. There had been official photos, interviews, meetings with the new media consultant, and the institution of CJ's newly assigned Secret Service detail. John had gotten the easy end of the deal with only a few photos and the joint interview with Barbara Walters. CJ, on the other hand, had been tied up nonstop. 

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" John asked tenderly, lightly squeezing CJ's shoulders. 

She had slumped down on the sofa and had to look up to see John. The same uneasiness, the sinking feeling in her stomach that had been with her all day, had returned. CJ knew she had to tell John. They had to discuss what to do. 

CJ pulled herself into a sitting position and cleared her throat. "John, the President asked for my resignation today. Leo was in the room and they said that if this week was any indicator of my availability, I was no longer going to be an effective Press Secretary." 

John gasped in honest surprise. He'd *never* seen that coming; he thought that CJ's relations with her co-workers had returned to normal. "This week? Claudia, did you tell him that this week was out of the ordinary?" 

CJ nodded, a lump rising in her throat. Her voice was small, not her own. "They said I had no idea what was coming. The President said he regretted doing it, but found it necessary to take my resignation as soon as possible." 

John felt intense anger rising in him; they simply couldn't do this to her. "Oh my God," he growled. "I'll go over there right this instant and kick that man to the Kremlin. They just don't want *my* wife speaking for them, as if we played for different teams." 

CJ placed her hand on John's forearms, settling his rage. "John, John.Listen to me. I yelled and we said some nasty things. I told the President that he'd have to fire me before I resigned, but.I've had a lot of time to think. " 

"You're considering it," John stated gruffly. He was guilty of secretly wanting her to resign and be a full time Second Lady, but never in a million years would John have suggested or told CJ what to do. And he certainly had never expected this. 

CJ sighed and blinked, swallowing hard. "Today, the things I said.I've effectively destroyed my relationship with both Leo and the President. There's no way I'll be in the loop if I stay. It would ultimately hurt them, and by association, you. And that's something I don't want to do." 

"Claudia," John began softly, looking intently into her eyes. "I don't want you to hurt." 

CJ closed her eyes. This was an unhappy decision. "I love you, John, I know you don't want me to hurt. And let's face it, working in the West Wing this past year *has* hurt- maybe it really is time that I moved on." 

John swallowed and looked down at his future wife. He had to quietly agree with her. "Maybe." 

~*~ 

"Sir," CJ said tersely, handing a slim white envelope out to him. 

Looking over his reading glasses, the President took the crisp envelope. "This is what I think it is?" 

"Yes, Sir." 

"Claudia Jean," he sighed, tension fading away. "I never wanted to do this." 

"Yes, you did," she responded tightly. "Let's face it, Sir; you haven't been happy with me for a long time. Nor have Leo and Josh." 

"It's not about the opinions of the staff." 

"No, you're right, Sir," CJ stepped closer to the desk, buttoning her black blazer, warming to the topic. "This is about perception. You and Leo can't bear the thought of the Vice President's wife being the public face of *your* administration, an administration working damn hard to stay out his popularity spotlight." 

President Bartlet let his shoulders drop as he raised his chin. The letter remained untouched on the desk. "He's going to make a great President some day," Bartlet mused. "And you'll be a fine First Lady. But you have to understand that right now, John Hoynes is not the President - and it keeps us from doing our job when the public puts its faith elsewhere." 

And so they were punishing her, CJ thought as she clenched her teeth. "The public has a lot of reasons to put its faith elsewhere." 

The President looked vaguely wounded. "You used to be so loyal." 

"Being loyal is someone else's virtue, Sir, because you certainly haven't been," she spat back, immediately regretting the words but too proud to apologize. Self-consciously tucking her hair behind her ears, CJ looked down at the blue rug of the Oval Office floor. "I'll be out of the West Wing by Friday." 

With that, CJ spun on her heels and walked out of the Oval Office. 

~*~ CJ was angrily throwing things into boxes when a knock came on her doorframe. Still seething from her meeting with the President - and the way he had so selfishly forced her resignation - CJ did not turn around as she nastily snapped, "What?" 

The First Lady cleared her throat. "I heard that the President of the United States just made a huge mistake. I came to see if I can fix it." 

CJ spun around at the sound of Abbey's voice. "After the way he and Leo have treated my *happy* news.Well, due respect, Ma'am, but the President can go fuck himself." 

"Well, he will be, for a while at least," Abbey cracked, coming into the office. She sat down on the sofa, aware and fully understanding of CJ's anger. 

CJ sighed and plopped down behind her desk. "I don't understand." She shook her head quickly, musing aloud. "No, I do understand. Your husband has fucked up so badly and John has picked up all the slack. Now they want out of John's shadow, and they can't fire him, so they fire me. And I got punished for falling in love with him." 

Abbey leaned forward as CJ trailed off. "You knew from the start that falling in love with him wasn't going to be easy. Honey, you just wait until he starts his campaign." 

"That's not the point, Abbey!" CJ retorted desperately, sighing heavily. "If I were a man, this never would have happened." 

Abbey cocked her head. "Jed made a mistake, Leo, Josh, all of them - they made a big mistake. But until you announce to the press.I can talk my husband out of this, CJ." 

CJ smirked angrily and stood up. "I wouldn't stay here if the President came in here begging on his knees, Abbey. But I would like you to make one thing clear to your husband." 

Abbey nodded, torn apart by this news. She'd never expected Jed's desperation for public support to be taken this far. "I'll tell him anything you want." 

CJ smiled sarcastically. "The President asked for my resignation and he'll get away with it, politically. You know I would love nothing more than to make a big deal about this in the press. But for John's sake, I won't, and the President knows it." 

"I should tell him that?" Abbey confirmed, embarrassed by her husband's actions, feeling for CJ. This was only the tip of the iceberg of what was to come for her. 

"That's up to you," CJ smirked. "But when John runs for President, tell your husband to vote for someone else." 

Abbey swallowed and stood up, approaching the taller woman. "I'm so sorry, Claudia Jean, I really am. I hope this won't change our friendship." 

CJ softened up only barely. "I've always trusted you, Abbey." 

Abbey nodded and accepted that answer, throwing a sad smile over her shoulder as she left CJ's office. 

~*~ 

John trudged into the Observatory, purposely avoiding the kitchen as he rolled up his shirtsleeves. The day had been long and draining and as the midnight hour approached, an overwhelming urge was growing in the pit of his stomach. 

CJ had turned in her resignation letter this morning, and John had received the details via her tearful phone call. It sent rage through the Vice President; he was appalled that they'd upset his fiancée so much; John's angry visit to the Oval Office had done nothing to put out the fires. 

After a long and intense meeting, the President and the Vice President had reached a political understanding. CJ would resign without making noise, and Bartlet would let John off of the leash. New initiatives in his name, more press, an even better shot the White House in 2006...John was finally allowed to build on his popularity. 

John certainly wasn't going to tell CJ about the little deal, but his public exposure - and hers - was about to increase. Bruce would see to that.but it did little to ease John's guilty worry. CJ was upset, hurt by the things that had been said and done - would she really be happy as a wife alone? CJ was a career woman down to the core. 

Stress had been building in the Vice President since CJ had called, and as he locked himself into the darkened study, John knew how hard the night ahead was going to be. It rarely happened these days and he hadn't craved this in quite a long time, but in the wake of the day's pressure, John wanted nothing more then he wanted to take a drink. 

It was usually not so big a deal if John thought about alcohol, and as an alcoholic, he surely did. But none was kept in the Observatory and John didn't have the courage to ask an agent to get him something - after twenty-five years dry, he didn't break so easily. 

But tonight, there was a bottle of wine in the cupboard above the refrigerator; mostly full, it was left from dinner with CJ just days earlier. It had taken John a long while to convince her that drinking in front of him was all right, and she usually took home anything she didn't finish. John couldn't remember why CJ had left the bottle in the kitchen; all he knew was that it was there, burning a hole in his willpower. 

And so he sat in his study with the door locked, as if that would keep his demons away. John kept telling himself that he didn't need a drink - his life was wonderful, changed so much for the better since Claudia came along - the stress of the day was hardly a good reason to get drunk. 

But John Hoynes was an alcoholic. He didn't need a reason to get drunk. 

He stood up slowly, walking mechanically towards the door. Carefully he unlocked it and stepped into the hall, heavily drawn towards temptation. He turned down the hallway and headed for the stairs, already plotting to bring the bottle back up to the study. He was on the fourth step from the floor when John heard the unmistakable sound of CJ's voice. 

"John? Are you here?" she was calling, her heels clacking on the hardwood floor. 

John felt his knees tremble; he wouldn't touch the wine now, but it was a damn good thing she'd shown up. He'd been so close.. Sinking down to the step, John cradled his head in his hands, willing himself to stop shaking. 

"Oh good, you're here," CJ breathed, her feet loud on the hallway as she found John. "The agents let me in, but Matthew's gone for the night and I didn't know if.John? John, what's the matter?" 

John didn't respond, and CJ worriedly crawled onto the stairs, kneeling one step below where John sat. Resting her hands on his knees, she looked purposefully up at him, her worry growing intense at his silence. "John, you're freaking me out, what's going on?" 

He was embarrassed and upset, and he didn't want to move. He didn't want her to see him this way. "It's nothing," he mumbled, squeezing his eyes closed. "Nothing at all, I'm fine." 

"No you're not," CJ decided firmly, carefully taking his hands away from his face. "John, talk to me. What happened?" 

When John saw the concern in CJ's eyes, he felt his heart both flutter and sink. She was his world, his everything - she was the one who could keep him from the wolves. And she shouldn't have had to show up to do that, John realized, loathing what he'd almost done. 

"There's a bottle of wine in the kitchen," he said in a deep voice. "I want you to go and get rid of it." 

CJ's eyes widened as she slowly began to realize what was going on. Without a word she darted up and off of the stairs. John heard the cupboard open and close, then CJ's hushed tones as she spoke to the on-duty agent. She was back on the darkened stairs within minutes, reaching for him. 

"You didn't have any," she reminded him softly, gently stroking the hair on his forearms. That was the last time she would drink in his company; he was obviously shaken up. 

"I was going to, though, and that scares the hell out of me," John admitted lowly, incredibly ashamed that she was witnessing his inner turmoil. He grabbed onto her elbows, squeezing them quickly out of unspoken gratitude. 

"It's okay, it's okay," she soothed him, moving even closer, her hands still moving on his arms. "John, please look at me." 

He raised his eyes, the dark pools trained on her face barely a moment before he averted them. "I'm sorry," he murmured, "I'm so sorry." 

"Shh," she whispered, using her hands to tip his chin up. "Darling, you didn't do anything wrong. You're stressed out and so am I. That's why I'm here, because we need each other," she reminded him, moved by the situation. John looked more vulnerable than she'd ever before seen him. 

John continued to cling to CJ's arms. "You have no idea," he chuckled wryly with a sigh. "God, Claudia, I don't even know what happened." 

CJ brushed her fingers over his cheek. She'd come here tonight looking to be taken care of, but it was more comforting that she could be the one to help him. "It's been a bad day for us both. Let's go and get into bed," she whispered, standing up after pressing a light kiss against his lips. 

John silently agreed, allowing her to lead him towards the first floor bedroom. Once the door was shut behind them, CJ came back to John and began to slowly help him with his clothes. He was incredibly out of sorts, but as soon as he was undressed, CJ ushered him under the comforter. Quickly shedding her own clothing, CJ slipped herself into the bed next to him. 

John had buried his head face down in the pillows, and as CJ watched his back rise and fall, she felt her heart skip a beat. It had to be hard, she figured, to struggle so hard with alcohol. And she knew he hadn't wanted her to see that inner grapple. 

Crawling over him, CJ slid her arms over his broad shoulders, her body half- covering his. Softly kissing the back of John's neck, she settled down, wrapping her arms around him as best she could. "I love you so much," she whispered, closing her eyes as the feel of his body began to warm hers. "You're strong, John." 

"Stay with me," John pleaded, his voice but a murmur. 

CJ kissed his neck again, inhaling against the scent of his fading cologne. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise." 

~*~ 

"Four days, Carol. I've got four days. Let's get a move on," CJ ordered on Tuesday, indicating all of the empty boxes littering the office floor. 

There were tons of personal items that CJ needed to get out of the West Wing office, not to mention the mountainous pile of briefing materials. Plus the desk, the couch, and the easy chair - they had all been hers and she certainly wasn't leaving anything behind. 

"Um, CJ?" Carol asked slowly, de-shelving the bookcase. 

"Yeah?" CJ asked, not turning. She was taking her diplomas off of the wall. 

"What are you going to do now?" 

"I'm going to be the Vice President's wife," she snorted. 

"I thought you *wanted* to get married!" Carol said with surprise, turning her head. 

CJ looked up. "Oh, Carol, I do. I love John. But John and the Vice President are not the same person." 

Carol nodded, understanding. "Okay, so I'll ask again - what are you going to do?" 

CJ folded her arms over her chest and faced Carol. "I have a wedding to plan, for one.and from the way Stacy sounded when I talked to her this Saturday, she's got more publicity for me to do. Apparently," CJ kidded, "I'm quite popular outside of the West Wing." 

"Uh huh," Carol nodded, wishing this were easier. The assistant wanted nothing more than to continue working for CJ, but as of yet, CJ had not made anything clear. "Ah, CJ, I was wondering." 

CJ was bright enough to catch Carol's drift. "Oh, come on! You're going to be *in* my wedding, for Christ's sake! Please don't ask me if you still have a job." 

Carol's relief came flooding out with laughter. "That's great, because unless it's with you, I no longer want a job with this administration." 

CJ grinned widely and turned back to her packing efforts, chuckling wryly. "That's the spirit." 

~*~ 

"I want you to know that I didn't agree with them," Toby said nervously, leaning up against the doorframe. 

CJ's office was cluttered with over four years worth of stuff, just waiting to be cleaned out, thrown way, or packed. It was only Wednesday, there was still time. She looked up from behind her desk. "What are you talking about?" 

Toby cleared his throat. "The meeting. When we talked about asking for your resignation. I didn't agree with them. Nor did Sam." 

"Wait, there was a fucking meeting?" CJ asked, incredulous laughter escaping her. "I figured it was just Leo and the President.." 

"Oh, it was. And Josh. But they asked for our input. And I just wanted you to know," Toby repeated for the third time, "that Sam and I stuck up for you." 

"A lot of good that did," CJ mumbled under her breath. She picked her head up. "Yeah, thanks Toby, but I'm glad I'm leaving, at this point." 

"I'll miss you," he offered quietly. 

"Yeah, and I'll miss you," she replied casually, piling more items into a box. "But I'll be around, you know that." 

"It won't be the same." 

"I knew that the first time I kissed him," CJ told him pointedly, finally looking up. "Everything has changed." 

Toby sighed, grudgingly giving in. "Listen, I know I was a jerk when you two first came out. But I want you to know that I really am happy for you - I'm happy you found your man." 

CJ smiled. That was the new Toby speaking, the Toby who had two children at home. "Thanks, Pokey." 

~*~ 

Donna stopped by CJ's office towards the end of Wednesday. The room was looking emptier every time she took a glimpse inside, only serving to further remind the young blonde that CJ would be gone after Friday. 

"Donna," CJ smiled, flicking off the lamp on her desk. "I was just leaving, did you need me?" 

Donna frowned. "I don't know, I just can't believe you're going. I mean, of course you have to go -you and the Vice President are getting married!" 

"We really are," CJ nodded, trying to smile. 

The official word - outside of the Senior Staff - was that CJ had resigned on her own accord to (as the statement had read) plan her wedding and prepare for her work as Second Lady. For the first time in CJ's experience with the press, they'd not questioned a word of the explanation. 

Donna, on the other hand, was suspicious. "CJ, was this really your idea? Do you really want to stop working here?" 

CJ looked at the younger woman and blinked. "No." 

"Then why-" 

"Three guesses," CJ responded wryly, smirking at Donna. 

Donna covered her open mouth with her hand. "No way! They fired you?" 

"They 'asked for my resignation'," CJ smirked, stepping closer to Donna. "Listen, that's between you and me, okay?" 

"Oh, CJ," Donna shook her head sadly. "I cannot believe them. It was Josh, wasn't it?" she perked up angrily. 

"And Leo. And the President," CJ sighed. "Listen, don't worry about it. I'll still be able to work for the things that I care about when.well, you know." 

Donna was staring thoughtfully into space. "I hate Josh." 

"Don't say that," CJ smiled, turning out the last light in her office. She ushered them into the hallway. "You've still gotta work for him. Have a good night." 

Donna stood in the middle of the hallway, watching CJ go out the door. There had to be something she could do, anything to change this. But no, Donna shook her head sadly, she was only an assistant. 

~*~ 

"The agents said you were here," CJ smiled brightly, closing her apartment door behind her. "I'm so glad." 

John stood up and flicked CJ's television off. He smiled slowly, almost shyly reaching for her embrace. He hadn't seen CJ in a couple of days - nothing unusual for the schedules they kept - but they had not yet had a chance to discuss what had happened two nights earlier. 

"How was your day?" John asked, holding tight to CJ's waist. 

CJ nodded "Fine. Do you feel better about the other night? I was thinking about you, but I didn't want to be a bother." 

John sighed and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He couldn't ignore the fact that she'd found him struggling to avoid a drink. "Thank you so much for being there. I'm still a little embarrassed." 

CJ shook her head and squeezed his shoulders. "I know you are, but I think we're beyond the point of being embarrassed around each other. At least, I hope we are." 

John smiled softly. "We are. I love you." 

"Wanna show me how much?" CJ teased, batting her lashes lightly up at him. 

John flashed his eyes at her and roughly pulled her mouth to his. Immediately moaning at the heat of his lips, CJ threw her arms around John's neck, deepening their kiss. As their lip-lock continued, John let his hands wander down CJ's back, lower and lower until he could cup her ass, pulling her against his already-growing arousal. 

"Bedroom?" CJ gasped, chuckling at the sudden intensity of his interest in her. 

"Now," John growled, the sparks between them getting hotter. CJ managed to divest him of his jacket, tie, and belt before they reached the hallway; John was much more skilled and CJ soon found herself backed up against the bed wearing nothing at all. 

"John," she giggled, breathing harder as his fingers stroked and pinched her breasts. He ignored her and moved his mouth to suck at her nipples, worrying them into ice hard peaks. "Jesus!" CJ gasped, working at the buttons on John's oxford. 

"Damn, I want you," John mumbled, sliding his hands down CJ's body, slipping one between her legs. 

She was already wet with arousal, but with a wicked gleam in her eye that went unnoticed by John, CJ decided to turn the tables. 

She quickly spun them around so that he was leaning against her bed, and in one movement, CJ unzipped his pants and pulled them down, boxers and all. 

After he hurriedly stepped out of his shoes and socks, CJ firmly grasped John's solid penis, stroking it hard. 

John drowned the sound of his gasp by pulling CJ's mouth against his, and as their tongues squared off, CJ thumbed his sensitive tip. 

"Claudia." John murmured, leaning more of his weight against the mattress. She was kissing her way down his chest, quickly bringing her mouth's attention to his penis. The wet and warm seal of her lips around the sensitive hardness sent a jolt through John, eliciting an uncontrolled moan. 

She began to suck his penis with incredible force, drawing it into the heat of her mouth. As John sunk his fingers into CJ's hair, he knew it wouldn't be much longer.When her tongue began to lightly flit around under the head, John was torn between stopping her actions and letting it go. "Oh, God, Claudia." 

CJ chuckled and continued to work her mouth over his penis. The vibrations from her laughter sent new sensations through John's body, and within seconds he was exploding into her mouth, unable to control the reaction. 

"Damn-it, CJ," John moaned, pulling her up off of the floor. "Damn-it." 

CJ kissed his mouth, the taste slightly tangy. "You know you liked that," she teased, stroking her hands over his hard chest. 

John's eyes were wide. "I'm not twenty years old anymore; it could be a while." he warned, nonetheless knowing that it didn't take too much of her to arouse him. 

"I'm a very patient woman," CJ purred into John's ear, "especially when your hands are on my body." 

"Oh, really?" John smirked, sliding his hands over her naked bottom. He was going to give it to her good, now. "I'm going to drive you crazy." 

"Are you?" CJ teased, planting another soft kiss against John's lips. His hands had fallen to her breasts and were slowly circling the areolas. "Let's have it, then." 

John cocked his head confidently, repositioning CJ against the edge of the mattress. Back to the mission he'd originally been on, John brought his head to her chest and found her breasts, moving the tip of his tongue around in small circles, slowly working his way towards her pointed nipple. When he finally reached the center of CJ's breast, she was purring softly, holding his head against her chest. After a lengthy tease for her other breast, John kneeled down before CJ's long legs. 

Gently spreading the lips of her vagina with his fingers, John smiled wickedly and darted his tongue out, striking quickly at her swollen clitoris. At CJ's strangled cry, he repeated the action, aware that the tiny bud was throbbing. With one hand holding her open, John took his index finger and slid it over her slick folds, slowly massaging the area around her clit. When he finally applied direct pressure to the hardened nub, CJ's whimpers combined with the musky smell of her thick arousal were enough to send a stir through John's groin. 

"Jo-hn." CJ moaned, sliding her fingers through his hair. "Come on." 

John stopped his motions and looked up, a sly expression in place. "You just said that you were a patient woman," he reminded her. 

CJ threw her head back and thrust her pelvis forward in hopes of encouraging him. "I'm really not that patient when I'm this close." she whined, wanting him more and more. 

John was hard again when he slid his hands up her long legs and over her toned, smooth tummy. Pressing a tender kiss against CJ's lips, he slowly urged her to turn around. After bending her over so that her stomach rested against the mattress, John stroked CJ's lower back. "This is going to be fun," he bragged. 

CJ moaned as she felt John slide into her from behind. "For.oh, shit.for which one of us?" she gasped as he thrust against her. 

John flattened his chest against her back and blew into her ear, his voice full of tease. "For you, Baby, 'cause I'm gonna last forever this time." 

CJ groaned and flushed; after his earlier release, he really would last. As John began to pump excruciatingly slowly in and out of her, CJ knew she might never get to orgasm like this. The angle from behind was just enough so that she stayed in a safe zone. It was constant pleasure that his thick penis gave her, but it was never quite enough to take her to the orgasm she so desperately wanted. 

After five minutes of slow, gentle, arousing thrusts, CJ was burning with need; her slit was dripping, soaking wet with the constant, steady stimulation. She craved a release so badly, but when she moaned and pushed back against John, he would simply steady CJ's hips with his hands and continue the torturous, slow motion of his now-enduring erection. 

"John, please, please," CJ begged breathily, turned on to the point of desperation. Propping herself up on her arms against the mattress, she tried again to get him to move faster. "Please!" 

John chuckled against her ear and increased his pace but barely. "What do you want?" he murmured. "Judging by the noises you're making, I'm doing okay." 

CJ bucked back, her heart pounding in her chest. "More, more, God, more," she gasped almost incoherently, "Oh, John..please." 

He'd teased her enough. Pulling out of her sopping vagina, John turned CJ around and urged her further up onto the mattress. She rolled onto her back and through a haze of desire, CJ pulled John down over her. "You'd better fuck me *hard*," she demanded with an aroused, amused expression on her face. 

John groaned and plunged roughly into CJ's body. It was only a few thrusts more until she began to writhe under him, exploding headfirst into the most intense orgasm she'd had in a while. John was too far along to stop himself, and as CJ gasped harshly under the now-intense stimulation of his continued thrusting, it didn't take her long to build up another peak. The friction built quickly for John and as he flew into his second release of the night, CJ burst into hers. 

Collapsing against her sweat-slicked body, John wrapped his arms under CJ's body, pulling her tight against him as he rolled them over. "Did I drive you crazy?" he whispered, lightly kissing her mouth over and over again. 

Giggling as she caught her breath, CJ closed her eyes and buried her head into John's shoulder. "That was the best kind of torture." 

Holding tight to his fiancée, John smirked with confidence. "I guess I've got another weapon in my pocket." 

~*~ 

Friday began for CJ and Carol in the West Wing at 9 o'clock. With all of the boxes having been taken out the night before, all that remained in CJ's office were the desk, sofa, and chair. 

"Hopefully in a couple years, we'll have an office in the East Wing," CJ murmured, hands on her hips as she stood with Carol, watching the moving men begin to work. 

The last of the furniture was being carried out when a bitter wave of nostalgia washed over CJ. She loved this job; she'd loved it even when the people had changed. And in the end, hadn't they just done what they thought was right? CJ knew firsthand how hard some of the decision they made were, but deep down, she had always expected more from this President. 

Carol smiled as the movers waved goodbye. "Guess that's it." 

"Yeah," CJ frowned, studying the hem of her navy blue blazer. The empty office was depressing. "What am I supposed to do all day, now?" 

Carol walked over to her own empty area. A clipboard rested on the desk. "You're meeting with Stacy in the Vice President's office at 11. She put together a list of wedding planners, and there are more photo requests. After that, you're free." 

CJ smirked. "I'm planning the wedding *myself*, Carol. All by myself." 

Carol rolled her eyes. "Not a chance. This is a huge undertaking, and think of the public interest. You want a wedding planner." 

"I can already feel this being blown out of proportion," CJ sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'm going down to the Mess for a while. Want to come?" 

"Sure," Carol smirked. It wasn't as if there was any work to do. 

~*~ 

".and she comes highly recommended, Ms. Cregg," Stacy leaned forward, handing CJ a sheet of paper. "These are a list of previous clients. You can get in touch with any one of them for a reference, if you feel the need." 

CJ perused the list. It was full of well-known names. CJ set it on the table and looked across at her new media consultant. "Whatever. As long as she can put together the wedding I want, I don't care." 

Stacy nodded and made a note in her book. "Excellent. I'll get back in touch with her and we'll set up an appointment for sometime next week. I'll have Janeane clear it with the Vice President's schedule. Now," the young, but professional, blonde moved on, "I have some more requests for photo shoots that I really recommend doing." 

CJ took a deep breath. There was a lot happening and it was all coming quickly upon her. Slightly relieved that she would no longer be tied up with Bartlet, CJ hoped that all of the wedding plans would fly by with relative ease. Not to mention the ridiculous public interest - that certainly wasn't going to fly by fast enough. 

"Photo shoots for what?" CJ finally asked, almost disinterestedly as her eyes wandered over to the closed door of John's main office. Maybe she could just casually get up, walk in there, and lock the door behind her. 

Stacy consulted the notebook again. "This one is for Vogue. I know the photographer, and they always do a fabulous job. You'll have final say on the prints that they use, but that shouldn't matter because you photograph well. It's for the February issue - Valentine's Day, and they want this on the cover." 

"This?" CJ raised a brow. 

"Your romance is high profile," Stacy pointed out needlessly. "I'll set up appointments for the interview and photographs. Would you prefer to meet at your apartment or at the Observatory?" 

CJ rolled her eyes. "Does it really matter? Wherever is fine." 

"Excellent," Stacy smiled down at the notebook. "Okay, item number three." 

CJ rolled her eyes again. They'd only been talking for ten minutes, and already the meeting had gone too long. 

~*~ 

"You will never understand the gratitude that I am feeling for you right now," CJ whispered to Carol as they walked out of the Vice President's office. Carol had pulled her out of the meeting, effectively rescuing CJ from Stacy. 

"What, you don't like the media girl?" Carol giggled, guiding them along the hallway. 

CJ cringed. "It's not Stacy, it's the stuff she's giving me. Some celebrity wedding planner.Vogue magazine.and next week, Bruce set up a meeting with an *image consultant*!" 

Carol couldn't help but laugh. "Bruce wants to mold you. Don't let him." 

"Well, I'll make sure you're at the meeting to protect me," CJ informed the brunette with a smirk. CJ looked up, and suddenly stopped walking, realizing that they were at the Mural Room. "What am I doing right now?" 

Carol grinned slyly. "Some people wanted to say goodbye to you, that's all." 

CJ's expression fell slack. "No way, Carol, I do not want a send off from *this* staff. Sam and Toby have already talked to me in private." 

Carol shook her head, her eyes sparkling. "How about the press?" 

CJ's mouth curled up ever so slightly. "The Press Corp is in there?" 

"And the First Lady.She didn't want you to leave with a totally sour taste in your mouth - she helped the Press Corp put this together so quickly," Carol smiled, leaning closer to CJ. "They're genuinely going to miss you." 

CJ rolled her eyes good-naturedly at Carol and then swept open the Mural Room door. It didn't hurt to play nice, and she actually hadn't said goodbye to the reporters yet. 

"I guess I couldn't hope to leave without you guys hounding me one last time," CJ put on, her voice loud and friendly as she walked into the room. 

The Press Corp erupted into a round of applause as CJ entered, immediately crowding around her to offer hugs and words of support. "I can't believe you guys," CJ laughed, looking into the room full of chatty, eager reporters. 

There was a load of gifts on the table, trays piled with too much food, and a steward was set up with drinks against another wall. As she embraced each reporter one at a time, CJ's eyes landed on Abbey Bartlet, standing in the corner with a soft smile on her face. 

"I told them this was all off the record," the First Lady joked, "So feel free to say what you *really* think of these guys." 

This caused laughter in the reporters. CJ felt both anger and sadness over the circumstances surrounding her leave; she pushed it aside, knowing that she could never truly say what she really thought of it all. Putting on a smile and avoiding Abbey's eyes, CJ continued to accept the goodbyes from the reporters. 

~*~ 

"Josh, I'm going over to the Mural Room," Donna yelled, having heard from Margaret that more than a few staffers had filtered into the Press Corp's goodbye party for CJ. 

Josh's head poked out of his office. "What's in the Mural Room?" 

"CJ's thing," Donna said casually, already backing down the hallway. "I just want to pop in." 

"No, not now, I need you on the phone for me," Josh said blatantly. He was already compiling in his mind more work for her to do. 

Donna shot him an incredulous look. "Josh! It's her last day! I just want to see her!" 

"See her on the weekend or something. She's gonna have plenty of free time," Josh mumbled. "Everyone is working right now." 

"Exactly no one is working right now, Josh. They're all in the Mural Room," Donna shot back, chuckling humorlessly. 

"If you knew the truth about how her resignation came about, you wouldn't be so hot to trot over there," Josh grumbled, coming into the bullpen to grab a folder. "CJ has totally changed." 

Donna forced down her laughter. "God, Josh, you never used to be this arrogant; you're the one who's changed! And CJ's my friend - of course I know the truth about how her resignation came about. *You guys* are pushing her out the door and she's covering your asses!" 

Josh's expression fell blank. "We actually *asked* for her resignation, Donna, and it's because we don't want the Vice President's wife as our spokesperson. As it is, she's already a liability to the Administration." 

Donna shook her head with a snort. Never before in her six years working for Josh had she felt such a strong urge to knock his lights out. "The bottom line is that Hoynes is popular, Josh and we're not. I think maybe someone should explore the possibility that this President is his own liability to the Administration!" 

Josh's indignation registered immediately on his face, and his tone was ice cold. "You don't like the President? Work for someone else, Donna." 

Donna smirked and cocked her head, capturing the moment and making a conscious decision. "Effective on Monday, Mr. Lyman." 

With that, Donna took a page out of CJ's book and made her exit. Gliding down the hallway towards the Mural Room, Donna reveled in both the harsh clack her shoes made on the floor and Josh's stunned silence. 

~*~ 

"Now, everyone knows I used to have a big crush on CJ." Danny said, taking his turn in front of the group; the reporters were going around one at a time, offering a few words about their personal and professional experiences with CJ. What had started with Katie's simple toast had now turned into a full-blown roast-like experience. 

CJ inched backwards on the sofa and buried her head in her hands as the room dissolved into laughter, including Danny's own. "I say that in past tense simply because CJ now comes complete with her own fully-trained body guards, and I'm not particularly interested to know just how fully they've been trained." 

More laughter. CJ picked her eyes up just in time to catch Danny's affectionate pair. She shook her head, remembering the way she'd once felt about him. It had been so long ago, and it had turned out so unfortunately. 

"Anyway, I don't really feel like this is goodbye, because I just know that you and the Vice President will have the press's attention for many more years to come." He looked at her with a genuine smile. "All the best to you, CJ." 

CJ stood up and pulled Danny into a friendly embrace, touched by not only his words, but the words of the other reporters. After it all, they still held a mutual respect for each other, one that would hopefully serve CJ well in the future. 

With a silent smile, Danny ended the hug and CJ turned around, a sigh on her lips as the gathering continued around her. She was about to see if she could slip out of the room when the door suddenly opened. 

"Donna?" CJ asked, walking quickly to intercept the blonde. "Why do you look so utterly and completely pleased with yourself?" 

Donna's eyes flashed and she moved in closer to CJ. "Josh stepped over the line one too many times. I quit." 

CJ's jaw dropped and she felt surprised laughter rising in her chest. "You did not." 

"Oh, I really did," Donna nodded, the shock-value of her actions still not quite sinking in. 

"Well, he'll be looking for you tomorrow morning bright and early, you know," CJ laughed, the sound tinkling pleasantly. 

"Well, he's not gonna find me," Donna shook her head, grabbing onto CJ's wrists, a desperate expression covering her features. "I told him I was gone Monday. I'm really not going back to him." 

CJ grabbed Donna's arms in turn, all-too-pleased at this development. She looked around the room and dropped her voice, leaning closer to the younger woman. "What did he do?" CJ asked conspiratorially, a slight grin growing on her face. 

Donna closed her eyes. "There were.well, let's just say that we had words. He invited me to work for someone else and I took him up on it." 

"You go, girl," CJ laughed, shaking her head as she focused her eyes seriously on Donna. "You want to come on board with me?" 

Donna's face immediately fell serious. "Oh, CJ, that wasn't my intention in quitting, really, it was just Josh being Josh, and I absolutely do not expect you to." 

CJ held up a finger. "I could use another staffer, especially a familiar face. Carol's going to be swamped." 

Donna's eyes widened. "No way. Are you serious?" 

"Yes," CJ chuckled. 

"No way!" 

"Yes, Donna, yes," CJ laughed, wrapping an arm around Donna's shoulder, turning them back into the room. "Let's go tell Carol. She's gonna love this." 

"Oh my God," Donna murmured, looking down at the floor. She'd never in a million years dreamed that she would voluntarily leave the White House, not this way. But to go work for CJ full-time? That was another story. "I guess I'm going to have to clean out my desk, too." 

~*~ 

"I'll never understand why that woman complains like she does," Stacy shook her head, dropping the glossy copy of Vogue down on the table in the Vice President's outer office. CJ's flawless, stunning smile was splashed across the cover. "She photographs like a natural." 

"Should've been a model," Carol agreed, picking up another copy of the print, flipping through until she found the article. 

"I don't know, you guys don't think these are too sexy?" Janeane asked, pointing to the full page shot of CJ sitting on a stool, her long, smooth bare legs crossed as she flirted with the camera. 

Donna shook her head and studied the photo, CJ on the stool with her chin in hand, prominently displaying John's diamond. "We already covered that before this went to print. She's wearing a business suit and pearls; it's classy." 

"Especially the ring," Janeane giggled, turning her head as the Vice President's office door cracked open. "Oops, gotta go, ladies." 

As Janeane went to attend to the Vice President's schedule, Carol, Donna, and Stacy watched as CJ and John parted with a brief kiss. CJ smiled reluctantly as the Vice President left his offices, then walked over to join her small staff. 

"At 8:30 tonight we are, believe it or not, having drinks with the President and Abbey before the Kennedy Center," CJ snorted, her eyes catching the magazines spread out on the table. "Oh good God, put this crap away, that's so embarrassing." 

Stacy went wide-eyed. "We were just talking about how fabulous you look!" 

Donna was consulting her ever-present palm pilot. "The show at the Kennedy Center starts at 9:15; it should be relatively painless with the President, CJ." 

"It's forty-five whole minutes, Donna. That and the fact that we're sitting in his box," CJ smirked, sighing heavily. It was just over one month since her resignation and CJ had not yet crossed paths with either the President or the First Lady; her nerves were fast building. 

"All right, well, you've got Maxine in an hour over at the Observatory," Carol reminded CJ of the appointment with the wedding planner. "Worry about the Kennedy Center later." 

CJ nodded and sat down at the table. "Why don't you guys go on over there? I forgot to tell John something and he's scheduled to be back here in twenty minutes." At Stacy's worried glance, CJ smirked. "Relax, Stace. I'll be there on time!" 

Donna nodded firmly, sensing CJ's need to be alone for a spell. "Great, let's go girls; we'll see you at 5, CJ." 

CJ nodded as the three filtered out of the Vice President's office. After they'd gone, CJ looked distastefully at the magazine-littered table. After pushing every copy of Vogue onto the floor, CJ contentedly rested her elbows on the table and waited for John to return. 

~*~ 

"Ms. Cregg?" Janeane asked, surprised to see the Vice President's fiancée still in the office. 

CJ stood up. "Yeah, hey, Janeane. I was just waiting for him." 

Janeane looked at her watch. "Oh, okay, that's fine. There was a last minute message from Leo, asking the Vice President to take questions after the photo-op. He'll be at least another twenty minutes." 

CJ frowned. She had to leave. "Oh well, I'll see him later - I'm going to be late." She smiled at Jeanine, shrugging into her coat. "Wow, he's taking questions? They've really loosened the hold on John's public exposure these days," CJ casually commented, moving to leave the office. 

Janeane looked up, surprised. "Of course, that was part of the deal." 

CJ raised a brow. "The deal?" 

Janeane cleared her throat, casually moving materials around on her desk. "Yes, Ma'am, I thought you knew." 

"I don't," CJ said pointedly, stepping cautiously closer to Janeane's desk. "Why don't you fill me in?" 

Janeane grew slightly uncomfortable, hands fidgeting as she slowly spoke. "Well, the Vice President told me this in confidence and I haven't told anyone else," she warned, confused as to why CJ seemed to be in the dark. "After President Bartlet took your resignation, the Vice President cut a deal with him." 

"A deal about what?" CJ asked impatiently, growing uneasy at what she was learning. 

Janeane averted her eyes. "A deal saying that you wouldn't make a big issue in the media about your forced resignation and in turn, the Vice President would be allowed more publicity." 

CJ's jaw dropped. "John made that deal?" she asked in a low, dangerous tone. "I mean, really, John made that deal?" 

Janeane swallowed nervously. "Yes, Ma'am, I thought you'd agreed to it as well. At least, that was my impression." 

"I never even *knew* about it!" CJ exclaimed, suddenly seething. 

She had agreed to quietly resign out of both her own common sense and a need to make things easier for her fiancé - and it now appeared that John had maneuvered a gain out of it all! CJ closed her mouth, and with the Secret Service agents on her tail, she swept with silent anger out of the offices and down to the waiting car. 

~*~ 

CJ was distracted, trying to listen to Maxine talk about flowers. All the while her mind was caught up in the way that John had apparently used her; the thought wouldn't leave CJ's head. Thankfully Donna was there to take notes while Carol and Stacy were up in the bedroom, choosing her outfit for the evening. 

"Ms. Cregg?" Maxine said, lowering her glasses. 

CJ refocused on the graying but stylish wedding planner and shook her head in apology. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little.what were you saying?" 

Maxine and Donna exchanged glances. "We were talking about the pros and cons of the white roses, CJ," Donna prompted. 

CJ shook her head, bringing herself back to attention. "Yeah, didn't we decide that I'll be holding lavender while the girls have white? That way their dresses and my flowers will match.." 

"I'm worried that if it's a very warm day, any wilting will be more pronounced on a white flower, that's all," Maxine nodded, catching Donna's eye. CJ was obviously worried and distracted about something. 

"So you'll make sure they're extremely fresh, isn't that possible?" CJ snapped, rolling her eyes. "It's not going to be *that* hot on June 4th." 

Maxine nodded quickly to appease CJ, and made a note. "We'll take care of it, Ma'am." 

They were about to move on when the door slammed, taking all of CJ's attention away. John had arrived home, his voice calling out with an immediate, jovial, "Claudia Jean?" 

CJ snapped her head up and looked between Maxine and Donna. "We have to be done now, there's a thing I need to do.." 

With that sharp dismissal, CJ bolted into the hallway, her heels angry on the hardwood floor. CJ's voice and John's began to rise in obvious, explosive confrontation. 

Maxine and Donna exchanged wide-eyed looks at the sound of CJ's shrieking voice and John's timbre. Stacy and Carol were worriedly slinking down the stairs when Donna and the wedding planner slipped out of the first floor study. 

Stacy and Carol stopped on the stairs to listen to the angry words that CJ was throwing at John, but Donna cocked her head at the door. "Let's go!" she hissed, partially amused at CJ's yelling voice, but hoping the fight wouldn't become something ruinous. 

"I'd be worried if I were him," Carol smirked, pushing Stacy off of the bottom stair. 

"I have an appointment with both of them for tomorrow afternoon, someone call me about that," Maxine chuckled and shook her head, ducking out the front door with a fast nod to the attending Secret Service agent. 

Donna snorted, ushering Stacy out behind Maxine. Carol rolled her eyes at Donna as she too slipped out of the Observatory. With a quick look back into the house - and sure that neither CJ nor John had noticed them leaving - Donna exchanged sighs with the agent and shut the door behind her. 

~*~ 

"You bastard," CJ spat angrily, catching John totally off guard as she came into the kitchen. "I absolutely cannot believe what you did to me." 

John reached for CJ's hand but she pulled away frantically before he could touch her. His concern and shock grew tenfold at her confrontational manner. "Claudia, what happened?" 

"What happened?" She shrieked, "A deal is what happened! You made a fucking deal behind my back with the President of the United States!" 

"Claudia, keep your voice down," John pleaded, his stomach forming Jell-O as he began to connect the dots. "And tell me what you're talking about." 

"I think you know, you son-of-a-bitch," CJ muttered through clenched teeth, her hands on her hips. "Janeane told me why you're getting so much damn freedom with the press these days." 

John's eyes opened wide and he immediately found himself begging her, "Claudia, please, calm down and let me explain. It's not what you think it is, Sweetheart." 

"Don't 'Sweetheart' me, you asshole," CJ cried, moving to walk past John out into the hallway. He caught her arm, effectively holding her back. "And don't touch me," she warned, the anger and rage coming to a boiling point. "I can't believe you'd do this to me!" 

"Claudia, listen!" John yelled, still grasping her arm. She didn't resist, her cold stare meeting his pleading eyes. "After the President took your resignation, I went to see him, hot as hell over it all. He said that since he knew you'd keep quiet about the forced resignation, he'd allow me a little more public exposure in return. I didn't initiate it, Claudia, not at all!" 

CJ's expression crumbled as she choked back a sob. "Maybe not, but you should have told him where to shove his deal, John! That was the least you could have done!" 

"Claudia, I wasn't going to refuse an opportunity to build on my popularity," John said in a low voice, painfully aware that the agents were slowly creeping closer to the quarrelling couple. 

"At the cost of *using* the woman you love?" CJ smirked angrily, finally breaking loose of John's grasp. "I don't think so, Mr. Vice President, I don't take that from anyone." 

As CJ spun around and began to walk towards the door, John burst forward. "Please, Claudia, don't be angry. Let's work this out, let's fix this. I am so sorry, I'll do anything to make this better." 

"We're not working this out, John," CJ gritted her teeth, refusing to turn and meet his eyes. "I'm leaving." 

John's eyes went wide as he studied her cold, turned back. What did she mean, leaving? "God, Claudia, please. Please, I'm not letting you go because of this." 

CJ swiped at her tearing eyes, and continued to walk towards the door. John lunged forward, trying to physically stop her from going; he couldn't let her walk away from him so easily. Before John could reach her, however, CJ's ever-present Secret Service agents appeared from out of nowhere, separating the Vice President from his fiancée. 

"Claudia." John breathed, desperate as he shot the agents angry glares. He should have known that Bartlet's deal would blow up in his face like this. "Don't go, Claudia, please." 

~*~ 

"Ma'am?" Agent Marshall asked for the third time, standing across from CJ in the middle of the large Observatory lawn. "Ma'am, if I may ask, what's the plan?" 

CJ crossed her arms over her chest, her mind elsewhere. Her overwhelming anger had subsided, giving way to a dull ache. She hated to fight with someone she loved as much as she loved John. Adding to her hurt was the fact that she and John had not yet gone through a blow up like this. 

"The plan is to stand here, Bobby, is there a problem?" 

The tall agent gave a discreet signal to CJ's other agents; it would be a minute longer. "Well, Ma'am, we generally don't like for you to be out in the open this long." 

"It's the Observatory lawn, not Times Square," she snapped. "If you don't like it, go stand somewhere else." 

"Apologies, Ma'am, I go where you go," Bobby responded, trying to hide his amusement. He'd witnessed the highly-charged dispute between CJ and the Vice President, deciding that since CJ hadn't left the compound, things would likely work out. 

"Don't call me Ma'am! Don't call me Ma'am! This isn't a Western!" CJ cried excitedly, her words sounding vaguely familiar to her own ears. She angrily kicked at a small stone with her heeled pump. 

"I'm required to call you Ma'am, or Ms. Cregg," Bobby pointed out. 

"God, you sound like Simon Donovan," CJ murmured angrily, hugging her arms tightly around her. The February evening was cold, and CJ was miserable. 

"I knew Simon Donovan," Bobby mused. "Good guy, one of the best." 

CJ felt a lump forming in her throat. "Oh my God! This night can't possibly get any worse!" 

Bobby leaned forward. "Well, if I might suggest going back inside, maybe the Vice President has figured out a suitable way to make amends." 

"Shut up, Bobby," CJ retorted, finally beginning the walk back towards the Observatory. 

"Yes, Ma'am," Bobby chuckled, following closely behind as the other three agents joined the parade. 

~*~ 

John was still in disbelief that CJ had walked out of the house on him. He shouldn't have been surprised; John knew his fiancée was a spitfire, sure of herself and the fact that she *did not* need to be jacked around. "Jacking her around" - yeah, he'd have to plead guilty on that one, even though it hadn't been his intent. 

An intense longing for his fiancée washed through the Vice President, and with frightening clarity, he realized that he needed CJ much more than she appeared to need him. What did that mean? Would she come back tonight? Would she speak to him again? Were they still engaged? Glancing at the clock, John anxiously realized that they were due up in the White House Residence in just less than two hours. 

He'd have to make excuses for CJ; there was no way John was going stand up the President of the United States, but he didn't know how he was he going to get through the evening with their fight hanging over his head. 

John heard the door crack slowly open and he suddenly sprung up off of the sitting room sofa; he walked into the foyer to find CJ standing there, a blank expression on her face. 

"Claudia?" he asked, tentatively approaching her. Her face was expressionless and she allowed John to take her hand. He coaxed her into his embrace, relieved warmth coursing through him. "Oh, Sweetheart, I'm so sorry." 

CJ said nothing as John held her tightly against his body, reveling in the feeling more than he ever had before. They were silent until John realized that CJ was crying, tears flowing against his jacket. 

"I'm so angry at you right now that I could lose my mind," CJ murmured, tightening her arms around his shoulders. "I can't understand why you would have done such a thing, John." 

John ran his hand over the back of her head, smoothing her hair down. "It wasn't calculated, I didn't plan on it, and I certainly never meant to hurt you this way," he explained, his trademark confidence returning quickly as he looked into her watery eyes. "Claudia, the man told me he was going to let me off the leash if you stayed quiet. I knew you weren't going to make noise anyway, and I figured Bartlet would be none the wiser." 

CJ choked on a sob. "You used me. I hate that. I hate politics." 

"No you don't," John chuckled, squeezing her even tighter. His humor quickly faded away. "Please tell me this will be okay? That we're okay?" 

CJ nodded silently, her head still buried against John's chest. CJ was surprised by her own actions; forgiving him so quickly was uncharacteristic, CJ knew. She never gave in first; she never let arguments go this easily, especially when it was something this big. But just the thought of *really* walking out on John brought nausea to CJ's stomach. 

"It'll be okay," CJ sniffled, feeling all-too-like a little girl. Pulling back with a slight feeling of unease, CJ looked at the clock. "We have to get dressed for the Kennedy Center." 

~*~ 

John held CJ's hand between both of his, completely ignoring the orchestra on the stage. Every other moment, he glanced over at his fiancée, watching her passive expression, her pursed lips. She was hardly speaking to him, offering him no explanation other than her need to "sort some things out." 

She'd played her part well enough for the First Lady, but CJ had all but ignored the President of the United States; now as they sat in the darkened Presidential box, listening to the orchestra play, John felt his worry grow. CJ said she wasn't going to leave him, but he had a feeling that there would be hell to pay for his 'deal'. 

"I'm going to slip out and get some air," CJ leaned over and spoke in a whisper, gently sliding her hands out from between John's palms. 

"Are you okay?" John asked, chewing his lower lip, not wanting her to go, still half-worried that she was going to disappear on him for good. 

CJ smiled softly and raised her eyebrows. "Yes." 

He watched as she glided out of the Presidential box, the agents immediately moving to follow. John wanted to follow but knew better. Instead, he turned his attention back to the stage, tactfully avoiding Abigail Bartlet's questioning eyes. 

~*~ 

CJ pulled the deep purple wrap around the strapless gown and lifted her skirt as she descended the long red staircase. John had made a mistake and they were all guilty of that, but as CJ reached the Kennedy Center lobby, she knew she couldn't just let this go without some kind of equal retribution. 

"Ma'am?" Bobby asked, catching quickly up to CJ as she headed for the doors. 

CJ spun on her heels, amusement crossing her features. "I'm going out to the terrace, Bobby, I promise not to throw myself into the Potomac." 

"Good, because it's pretty cold tonight and I wouldn't want to have to follow you in there." the Agent chuckled, murmuring into his sleeve as CJ pushed open the door. 

"But you guys would follow," CJ sighed, flashing him a wry smile as she went out into the chilled night. 

The agents stayed a respectful distance away as CJ pulled her cellular phone out of her purse. Scrolling through the lengthy index of numbers, CJ felt a plan formulating in her head. A, B, C, D, E, F, G.CJ kept going down the list until finding the number she wanted. 

Glad for the absence of other people on the terrace, and amusedly remembering Tad Whitney, CJ pressed her phone to her ear. "Amy? Hi, this is CJ Cregg.Fine, how are you?" 

CJ twisted her mouth. Amy Gardener had been working for the National Organization for Women since right after the 2002 election; CJ's office had received a call from her three weeks ago, and in an effort to avoid anything political or career-related, she had not returned it. But after tonight's developments with John - and being almost sure of the reason for Amy's call - CJ eagerly jumped into the conversation. 

"I apologize for not calling back sooner, Amy, but it's just been crazy with everything going on.yeah, the plans are going very well, the invitations went out just a few days ago.well, I left the White House for obvious reasons, but I'm actually interested to stay involved.." 

CJ smirked and thought about the way Bruce would react when he found out what she was about to do. Not to mention the reaction of her fiancé. 

"Well, I know the statement gave another impression, but after the wedding, I'd like to jump back into something steady.." 

CJ sucked in her breath, waiting for what she knew was coming. Smiling broadly at Amy's words, CJ shook her head feeling like quite the conspirator. "I'd love to come and help you guys, out, Amy; it'd be a dream." 

~*~ 

A high-level position with NOW; CJ couldn't stop smiling at the prospect. It was revenge, sure, but to CJ it was more than that. She was a career woman deep down in her soul and John had known that from the start. Bruce would probably blow a gasket, but as Second Lady, CJ knew her impact on the issues she cared about would be massive. 

Bobby muttered into his wrist again as CJ indicated she was ready to go inside; as she gathered her skirt and began to walk, CJ entered the lobby and found a surprise waiting for her. 

"Josh?" 

"Mrs. Hoynes," he smirked, cocking his head. 

She narrowed her eyes at him, wondering how easily she could choke him with his bow tie. "Not quite yet," she smiled all-too sweetly, moving to sweep past him. "Excuse me. I've got to go back to my seat and I'm sure you need to staff the President." 

"CJ, wait," Josh called just as CJ reached the foot of the staircase. 

She slowly spun around. "Yeah?" 

"How's Donna?" His tone was non-confrontational, soft and full of genuine interest. CJ walked back to him. "She's good." CJ nodded, finding no place on Josh's face to rest her gaze; she shifted her eyes around the room. "I'm afraid I'm not as disorganized as you were; there's a lot less for her to do." 

Josh smiled barely. "You're planning a wedding. There's going to be tons to do after you're married." 

CJ nodded again, thinking that she might as well leak her new career plans. Who better to use than Josh? "I'm going to work with Amy." 

"National Organization for Women," Josh stated, raising a brow. "Wow, Hoynes agreed to that?" 

CJ smirked. "I don't answer to any man, Josh, you know that." 

"You answered to the President," he pointed out. 

"I didn't have much of a choice," CJ angrily shot back, turning around again and starting up the stairs. "I have to go back." 

CJ stopped partway up the stairs when she realized Josh had followed. "What?" 

Josh cleared his throat. "I just wanted to say.well, you know..." 

"Josh?" Her voice softened, curious about what he had to say, but mindful of the way he'd gone out of his way to hurt her after finding out about John. 

"I'm sorry," he swallowed, tentatively meeting her eyes. "I messed up. With you and with Donna." 

CJ nodded and studied Josh's expression for a minute. He looked genuine. She picked up her skirt and continued to ascend the stairs. "Yeah, Josh. You really did." 

~*~ 

"Christ, John, can't you control your woman!?" Bruce yelled, eyes wide as his arms flailed about. 

The Vice President settled behind his desk and propped his feet up next to the laptop. "There's been no evidence of that so far." 

"Sir!" Bruce was in disbelief. "Good Lord, you're not even taking this seriously!" 

John sighed. "Yes, I am. But let's face it, Bruce; I had this coming to me. I pulled that deal over on her, and this is what happens. I screwed up and this is the price I have to pay. Hell, I'm probably getting off easy." 

Bruce frowned. "Your wife.working for the National Organization for Women. It's not the *best* image I can dream up." 

"Her intention is not to stir up trouble for me. We've spoken about it and -" John abruptly stopped talking and took his feet off of the desk, standing up quickly. "Bruce, can we drop this? I don't like thinking of CJ's desires and actions solely in terms of how they affect my political image." 

"But she is a huge part of your political image, Sir," Bruce quietly informed him. "Outside of the way you feel about her, CJ can make or break how the voters see you." 

John scowled, his tone rising. "I love her, she wants to do this thing, and after the way I acted, I'm in no position to tell her no." 

"We may have to discuss options for -" 

"Bruce, I swear to God. 

"I'm just saying, Bartlet might put us back on a leash and slow down the momentum..." 

John brought up his best glare. "I said drop it. Now." 

With that, the chief-of-staff respectfully nodded and left the office. John sighed and rubbed his eyes, sitting back down behind his desk. His eyes fell onto a framed photograph. It was one of the shots taken last month after they'd announced their engagement, and as John studied CJ's happy, beautiful smile, he felt a growing warmth flare inside him. He loved her more than anything; he loved her more than this political game. If she wanted to do work for NOW, well, John certainly wasn't going to stop her. 

~*~ 

"Glasses, pen, notebook, and notes inside the notebook..you're good," Carol decided, reviewing her mental checklist. 

Donna looked at CJ. "Hair's done, make up in place, suit's pressed.you're good," she giggled, her checklist purely aesthetic. 

CJ sighed. "No, I'm not good." 

"What do you need?" Stacy asked, looking around the bustling lobby. They sure had done a fabulous job of getting the word out about this press conference. 

"How about Amy?" CJ smirked. They were about to announce to the press that CJ would be taking a position with NOW after the wedding. "She's a central part of this whole thing, you know." 

As if on cue, the elevator door opened and Amy burst into the NOW building lobby. "Sorry! Sorry! I'm here!" 

CJ spun around, grinning. "Well, it's a good thing, because there's the biggest load of press out there that I've seen since we announced that the President has MS." 

Amy smirked and cocked her head. "We made a few calls." 

"Yeah," CJ chuckled, indicating the lobby doors. "Shall we?" 

Amy took CJ's elbow and began to walk. Donna, Carol, Stacy, and the Secret Service began to follow, creating quite a parade. "So, how's the Vice President taking this?" Amy asked slyly. 

CJ looked amusedly down at the brunette. "I've got him whipped, so he's taking it fine. Bruce Mayer, on the other hand, blew a nutty." 

As an agent swept open the door, Amy respectfully stepped aside to let CJ pass through first. "Then you know you're doing something right." 

"Let's try to keep that up," CJ chuckled, putting on her best smile as they stepped onto the front steps of the NOW building. The press was eager, as ever, for anything to do with the Vice President's fiancée. 

Flashbulbs exploded as they approached the podium, with the Secret Service gathering discreetly around, scanning the crowd. The reporters were clamoring, and as Amy stepped up to the podium, she turned and nodded at CJ with a satisfied grin. "I think we're on the right track." 

~*~ 

"Well, so much for a nice, traditional family image!" Bruce bellowed, his voice getting louder as he said each word. 

"Bruce, look at that woman. You see anything traditional about her?" John grinned, indicating his fiancée on the television. CJ was taking questions at a fairly good clip; it had been two months since she'd resigned as Press Secretary, but it was obvious that CJ hadn't lost her talent. 

Bruce scowled. John had lost a bit of the intensity in his drive for the Presidency since CJ came along; Bruce wanted nothing more than to knock some sense into the man. "You just lost the votes of.oh, let's see, conservative men? Stay-at-home mothers? The Christian Right?" 

"Come on, Bruce, we never had them the first place!" John shot back angrily, knowing nonetheless that some of those votes might once have been within reach. 

Bruce always had a point, and in the past three weeks as his fear of losing CJ had faded, John had begun to reevaluate the wisdom of putting his future wife's name in conjunction with a liberal women's group. There wasn't much he could do now, as it had just been announced to the press with more than a fair share of gusto. Besides, John was starting to feel like Bruce was being very insensitive towards his fiancée - and John certainly wouldn't give in to *that*. 

"I just want to give you every opportunity to win the White House," Bruce said quietly. "This is not going to help." 

John leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily. "I know it's not going to help. I know it might make or break some of the voting, but Bruce.I don't think you understand why I can't reign her in." 

Bruce cleared his throat, rolling his eyes. "Because you pulled a deal and she outfoxed you. I know." 

John shook his head, one eye still watching CJ on the television. "It's more than that. Bruce, you don't know how much I love her. I don't want her to be unhappy. And if you really knew Claudia the way I know her, you'd understand that she won't be happy making any smaller of an impact than she possibly could. She wants to do what she thinks are great things with the opportunities about to be afforded to her." 

Bruce sighed heavily, pleading with the Vice President. "Look, I know you love her, but don't let that cloud your political judgment." 

John sighed. "I won't. I'm not!" He paused for a moment, staring down his best friend. "Okay, let's move off of this, shall we?" 

The chief-of-staff nodded, resigned to what was happening. "Okay. You're seeing Leo later?" 

John stood up. "In half an hour. Three guesses what that's about." 

Bruce smirked. "Maybe I have more in common with McGarry than you think." 

~*~ 

"More media requests," Stacy announced, dropping a pile of papers on the table. They were gathered in Observatory study, sifting through the post-press conference news. 

"Bite me," CJ mumbled, popping a French fry into her mouth. "In fact, someone, please, bite me." 

Carol giggled. "Relax, we're not doing them. Not yet." 

Donna flipped through the requests. "These publications are also going to want wedding press, and they're going to want that more. Stace, call back and tell these people to watch a rerun of the press conference if they want news." 

CJ continued to eat her lunch, casually looking across the table at the three women. "Why do they want interviews? We just announced this, three months premature. There's nothing to really report on." 

Carol shrugged. "You're infinitely interesting." 

"Shut up," CJ laughed. 

"Announcing now was good, no surprises after the wedding," Stacy reminded her. "Speaking of the wedding, Maxine faxed over the final guest list." 

CJ reached for the list. "Did everyone RSVP?" 

Stacy nodded while Donna snorted. "What do you think Josh did when he realized he didn't get invited?" 

Carol looked amongst the three women, amused. "He's probably still waiting - the mail is slow these days, you know." 

CJ looked up from the list. "Toby told me that Leo was miffed, but he never mentioned Josh." 

Donna's eyes widened. "You didn't invite Leo?" 

CJ only smirked. "I tried to get away with not inviting the President, but John vetoed me." 

Stacy, Carol, and Donna burst into laughter while CJ simply sat at the head of the table, proud and grinning smugly. 

~*~ 

"John," CJ sang out, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders as he came into the house. 

"Feminista," he returned with a grin, tipping her chin up for a light kiss. "How you doing?" 

CJ chuckled and brought his mouth closer for another kiss. "I missed you today." 

John sighed and smiled. "You did very well this morning. We watched you." 

CJ grinned slyly and slipped out of John's arms, into the kitchen. "I hope you managed to prevent Bruce from another heart attack." 

John watched as CJ poured herself a glass of water, his eyes perusing her smug expression. He had to chuckle; she was so attractive when she knew she'd won. "Forget Bruce.Leo was particularly impressed, if you must know." 

CJ looked up. "Is that sarcasm?" 

John shook his head and walked around the counter, closer to CJ. "No, he seemed fine with it. Probably because he knows this thing will lose me votes." 

CJ put down her water glass at John's display of honesty. "Look, John, you know I'm not going to hurt your campaign. When you kick everything off, I'm going to be right there, at your side. But until then -" 

John straightened his back and smiled. "You're going to be a full- time feminista. And you're going to hold a grudge with me. Forever." 

CJ nodded firmly, her eyes warm. "Feminista - that's one of Josh's words, you know that, right?" She walked over to John and wrapped her arms around his middle. "And I don't hold grudges - this is what happened; I fixed it, now it's over." 

CJ chuckled, thinking that she was a good liar. She didn't hold grudges: except for the massive one she was carrying around concerning Josh, Leo, and the President of the United States. 

"Claud?" John asked, curious to know what she was thinking. 

"I love you," CJ smiled sweetly, teasingly. 

John rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around her. "What am I going to do with you?" he asked, finding her mouth for a sound kiss. 

CJ batted her lashes at John after their lips had parted. She was giddy, in a teasing mood; her day had gone so well. "You're going to marry me, and then you're going to make love to me until we both can no longer walk." 

John laughed, the sound low from his chest. With a glint in his eyes, he ran his hands down CJ's back, pulling her tightly against him. "I don't have to marry you to do that.." 

CJ looked up at John with mischief in her eyes, equal amusement in his. As they met for another kiss, their tongues tangling softly, John had a feeling everything would work out for the best. Their careers aside, John knew there was nothing that could take the place of what he had with CJ. The love, the warmth, the feelings of total and unconditional companionship and acceptance - they were a couple, a team, and that was something for which John would willingly take political risks. 

~*~ 

"They just got back last night," Donna smiled, crossing her legs as she leaned towards the reporter. "I actually think they're still asleep at the Observatory. Three weeks in Europe and a transcontinental flight will do that to you." 

Katie chuckled and scribbled on her pad. She was doing a feature on the brand new Mrs. Hoynes and had landed interviews with almost everyone professionally related. "And she starts this afternoon over at the National Organization for Women?" 

Donna nodded. "Twelve-thirty sharp. Even during the honeymoon, there were a few productive calls with Amy Gardner. We're ready to go to work." 

"Has she put a staff together?" 

"Amy or Mrs. Hoynes?" Donna asked, immediately finding the name awkward on her tongue. Katie and Donna met eyes and giggled; Donna relaxed and leaned closer to the reporter. "I've gotta tell you, I'm having a really hard time with the name switch. CJ is just not a 'ma'am'..." 

Katie smiled affectionately, remembering the Press Secretary, casual and informal. "So, she's still 'CJ' in private?" 

Donna nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely. And to answer your question, yes, we have put together a staff, both inside and outside of the NOW offices. Amy provided a full roster of people that we'll be working with." 

"And outside of the offices?" 

"You know Stacy, you're dealing with her regarding these interviews - she's staying on for media consulting. We've got an affairs director, and someone to help CJ put together her portion of the official White House website. Carol has been CJ's right arm for years, that hasn't changed," Donna nodded professionally, still-excited about the new job they would officially begin in just a few short hours. 

"And you?" Katie was asking, making notes on her pad. 

Donna shifted her eyes and cleared her throat. "CJ asked me to be something like her Chief-of-Staff, believe it or not." Donna, for her part, could hardly yet grasp that overwhelming fact. "I'm managing the staff over at NOW, and the additional staffers regarding relations with the White House." 

Katie smiled, impressed. Leaving Josh Lyman had done wonders for the young blonde's career. "That's great, Donna," she said, injecting a personal measure into the interview. 

Donna looked down, shyly. "Well, I think I can handle things. We'll see!" 

Katie nodded and continued the interview. "So, the Vice President is still unconcerned with the image of his wife as a major player inside of the National Organization for Women?" 

Donna knew the standard answer; send those questions to Hoynes' press hawk. "I'm going to direct you to Bill Trolley," she reminded Katie, smiling coyly. 

"Yeah," the reporter rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "So, how was the wedding? I've only seen the pictures in People Magazine. What was the total on that, again?" 

Donna consulted her notebook. "The magazine paid one-hundred thousand for the photographs. It was all donated to local women's shelters." 

Katie made notes and looked curiously up at Donna. "It looked like a gorgeous event." 

Donna chuckled, recalling the huge wedding. CJ had been stunning in her slimming white gown, while she and Carol had followed around in lavender. The flowers had indeed *not* wilted, the food had been delicious, the cake, gorgeous. The reception had been genuinely fun, and the photographs had turned out beautifully. 

"CJ was extremely happy with everything," Donna smiled. "Even the flamingo ice sculpture." 

Katie had to laugh at that one. "And the Vice President?" 

Donna nodded, her eyes softening at the memory of the couple dancing closely. "I've never seen a man that much in love with a woman. They're incredibly happy together." 

Katie stood up, offering her hand to Donna. "Thanks so much for the interview. I've got something set up with Amy Gardner for this evening and when Stacy gets back to me, I may get some time to shadow CJ.Mrs. Hoynes," Katie corrected herself quickly, smiling at Donna. "The feature will probably start running in two Mondays, and I'm not yet sure if it'll be three or four parts." 

"All right, sounds good. We'll see you around," Donna nodded and smiled, standing in place until Katie found her way out of the room. 

Donna looked at the clock. She had two hours before she had to meet CJ. Darting into her bedroom, Donna immediately began to search through her closet for the perfect suit to wear. Today was a big day. 

~*~ 

"So, Jed, did you know that CJ is starting at the National Organization for Women today?" Abigail Bartlet casually asked her husband as they moved around the Residence, getting ready for the day. 

The President looked up, his tie in mid-knot. "The sewing thing starts today? They just got back when, last night?" 

Abbey snorted at her husband's terminology as she brushed her hair. "CJ's a real go-getter." 

The President shook his head. "Can't believe John didn't put up a fight. Not that I mind - he's going to lose votes - but it boggles my mind that he'd let her go and do this." 

Abbey snorted. "Love does strange things to a man. Wonder why that never happened to you?" 

Jed smirked and pecked Abbey's cheek. "Don't give up hope." 

Abbey rolled her eyes and straightened up her vanity table. "She's going to be First Lady someday, Jed, and I happen to think that this is all part of CJ's long-term plan." 

Jed flipped his coat over his head. "I happen to think this is all part of the thing where there *is* no plan. I was under the impression that Hoynes was a hell of lot smarter than this." 

Abbey smirked. "You know that CJ's going to gain more votes for him than she's going to lose. And you're just pissy 'cause you lost a great Press Secretary." 

"She resigned!" Jed grumbled, turning to shoot Abbey an incredulous look. At her knowing, pointed glare, Jed dropped his shoulders. "Yeah, okay, well, maybe I listened to Leo and Josh too much on that one." 

Abbey put the finishing touches on her hair. "I'm quoting you in the card when I send over some flowers for CJ." 

Jed grunted. "Whatever." 

Abbey flounced over to the door. "I'm going to work." 

Just as she was about to close the Residence doors Jed called her name. "Abbey, listen. I know it was ugly, I know it was a mess." 

Abbey softened her expression as she stepped back into the Residence. "Yeah." 

"You were mad about it for a while, and I know it wasn't fair. I made a mistake, I'm sorry," Jed shrugged. 

Abbey smirked and snorted. "Don't apologize to me. But now I'm *really* going to quote you in the card. Jackass......" 

~*~ 

John's eyes didn't want to open; he was suffering from jet lag and the effects of three relaxed weeks: the thought of work was wholly unappealing. As he slowly floated out of sleep, John smiled at the feel of CJ's form against him, her back pressed against his chest and his arm holding her close. 

John slowly ran his hand down her smooth, bare stomach and over the appealing curve of her hip. Pressing a gentle kiss against her shoulder, John sighed contentedly. He always wanted to wake up like this, with CJ by his side. 

CJ stirred slightly at John's slow moving hands on her skin, and when he softly kissed her neck, her eyes fluttered open. "Mm, John," she murmured, barely awake. 

"Morning, Sweetheart," John whispered, his heart skipping a beat as he watched her eyes slowly open. Over the three weeks of their honeymoon, John had pinched himself numerous times in a reminder that they were truly married; it was so heart-stopping to know that she was always going to be there with him. 

CJ sighed and slowly rolled over until she was face to face with John. Burying her head into his shoulder, she moaned, "I don't want to get up." 

"It's only ten thirty," John said, quickly glancing at the clock. 

"I need to leave at noon," CJ sighed sleepily, running her hand slowly, absently down John's chest. "And I was just getting used to *sleeping* until noon." 

John chuckled and traced lazy patterns on CJ's bare back with his fingertips. "This is nice, waking up with you." 

CJ pressed a kiss against John's neck. "You woke up with me every day for three straight weeks," she reminded him, hiding her smile. 

"No, but I mean for real. This is kind of like the first official day of our marriage. No more separate residences, we're not in Europe anymore.this is just you and me, waking up and going to work," John mused aloud, enjoying his thoughts as the summer sun pushed its way through the blinds. 

CJ sleepily pulled herself up, and as she let the sheets drop away from her body, she studied John. "Good thing I love you, or that could be scary." 

John grinned and smoothed down CJ's sleep-tousled hair. "I love you, too." 

CJ smiled and sighed, reluctantly slipping out of the bed. "I need a shower, gotta get dressed. Today is a big day for me." 

John nodded and grinned proudly. "Yes, yes it is. You'll be great." 

CJ turned, quickly crawled back up over the mattress and pressed a lingering kiss against John's mouth, ending with a contented sigh. "I had such a great time in Europe. I can't believe it's over." 

John chuckled and stole another taste of her mouth. "That part might be over, but we're just beginning." 

CJ rolled her eyes and giggled at his cliché. Kissing him one last time, she winked at her husband and moved to get ready for work. Cliché or not, John was right. Today was only the beginning of so many great, new things. 


End file.
